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Topic: Axon II Not Being Recognized By PC (Read 1438 times)

My Axon II is not being recognized by my laptop or my desktop. All the drivers are installed. First, I connected to my laptop via USB. It worked great and displayed as Siliconlabs something. Then I wheeled my robot across carpet (possible ESD buildup?) to my desktop and connected it to my desktop. I got nothing. I don't know what's going on, but I pray I didn't destroy my Axon due to ESD. Anyone care to help. Could I get around this issue by purchasing ISP AVR Programmer?

- Does it still work on the laptop?- Did you program with the USB bootloader before?- Did you ever plug anything into the pins '3.3V OUT'? (even by accident)- Does USB work when nothing else is plugged into the Axon II?- Did your laptop/PC give you any USB errors?- What is your battery voltage?- When you 'wheeled it over', what specifically does that mean? (a serious question)- What devices are attached to your robot, and to what pins?

Go to:Control Panel -> System -> Hardware (tab) -> Device Manager (button)What do you see for USB?(this assumes you have XP, but may be a little different depending on your OS)

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Could I get around this issue by purchasing ISP AVR Programmer?

Yeap. Although, this could be a sign of other problems. Plus, the USB is a must-have for debugging code so I'd rather you have that working anyway

The battery was not connected. Basically the battery monitor circuit, is a simple voltage divider placed immediately after the battery. The resistors are calculated to divide the voltage to 5v. The 5v output is connected to an ADC port on the Axon. So as the voltage of the batteries decrease, the voltage output will also decrease as well.

Was your Remote Shutoff Switch active when you wheeled it, meaning current was allowed to pass through?

Here is what I want you to do:- hook up everything just like you had it when you wheeled it over- but don't attach the battery monitor to the ADC- attach a multimeter to the battery monitor output and ground- wheel the robot around and read the voltage you get

And one more theory . . . this happened to someone a few years ago. The soldering on the USB connector for some reason wasn't very good, and when he yanked out the USB cable it made it loose a connection. Look very closely at the USB connector and see if the 5 pins on it look well-soldered or not. You may need a magnifying glass.

Ok I just tested both theories. When I wheeled the robot around, hardly any voltage was generation (0.1v). Do you think that my motors were spinning and that generate voltage. I should have told you that my robot is tank driven so when I wheeled the robot around, I took the treads off, and just wheeled the robot on the idler wheels.

As for the USB connection, it seems sound.

I see no sticker on the back either.

And the hardware programmer is coming tomorrow. I can still use the Axon II with the hardware programmer, right?

Ok . . . one more test . . . my latest theory is either the USB chip had an unexpected failure, or the USB connector is having issues.

Use a multi-meter to test the USB connector. On the left side there are 5 very tiny solder pads. Put one end of your probe there. It is important you only touch the pad and not the pin coming out of the connector, as the pin could be slightly loose. If it is loose, applying pressure causes it to connect - but we are looking for a disconnect. Then with the other probe touch the inside pin of the USB connector while being careful to not apply pressure. Do that for all 5 pins to test for connectivity.

Oh good. I have a FTDI ttl to usb cable. Is it going to be a problem the FTDI cable have the 6 pin connector? Which UART pins do I connect it to? Any of them? And is there any interfacing I have to do? I have already downloaded a driver for FTDI

Oh good. I have a FTDI ttl to usb cable. Is it going to be a problem the FTDI cable have the 6 pin connector? Which UART pins do I connect it to? Any of them? And is there any interfacing I have to do? I have already downloaded a driver for FTDI

Sorry, somehow I missed this . . .

What FTDI cable are you using? You only need Tx, Rx, power, and ground.